Kashmiris principal party to dispute: Yasin Malik

Srinagar, August 23, 2015 (PPI-OT):In occupied Kashmir, the Jammu and Kashmir Liberation Front (JKLF) Chairman, Mohammad Yasin Malik has said that Kashmiri people are not a third party but real owners of Kashmir and principal party to the dispute. Mohammad Yasin Malik in a statement issued in Srinagar reacted to the statement of Indian Foreign Affairs Minister, Sushma Swaraj in which she had said that according to Shimla Pact no third party should be involved in India-Pakistan talks and that Kashmiris were the third party.

“If Simla Accord mentioned so, it was never about Kashmiris but regarding other nations like US, UK etc. By applying this to Kashmiris, Swaraj is actually proving herself as unaware and far from reality,” he said. Yasin Malik said: “If Sushma is speaking the truth, may we ask her some questions. She was a minister in Vajpayee’s era and Vajpayee came to Kashmir and invited Pakistan and Kashmiris. He said let us stop fighting and resolve our disputes through peaceful means. Was this Vajpayee gesture a violation of Simla pact?

Again it was Vajpaee who travelled to Lahore and said it was his last wish to resolve Kashmir dispute peacefully. Will this too fall in the category of violating Simla agreement? Vajpayee wrote an article and said we must ignore beaten tracks and find innovative ideas to resolve the Kashmir dispute. Would this too be seen as a violation of Simla Pact? It was again Vajpayee who started composite dialogue with Pakistan and negotiated with resistance camp of Kashmiris. Was this too contrary to the spirit of Shimla agreement?” Malik added that Sushma by this ridiculous statement showed that she lacked information on Kashmir and ‘we reject her statement.